Sundaymail Editor
A 46-year-old man from Plumtree, who allegedly killed his neighbour whom he accused of gossiping about him, has appeared before a Plumtree court.
Themba Dongwani reportedly struck the now-deceased Vine Ndebele with a log several times all over his body, accusing him of spreading lies that he was a thief in Botswana. After the allleged attack, Dongwani fled to Botswana. Ndebele, however, succumbed to his injuries a few months later.
Proving the adage “the past always catches up with you” true, Dongwani, who allegedly fled to Botswana in 2017 after committing the heinous crime, was finally apprehended on May 24 this year. He was reportedly caught trying to sneak back into Zimbabwe through an undesignated entry point.
For the offence, Dongwani has since appeared before Plumtree magistrate Joshua Nembaware on a murder charge. He was not asked to plead and was remanded in custody.
The case, as presented by the prosecutor, is that on July 1, 2017, around 10am, Dongwani struck Ndebele with a log several times all over his body.
The accused acted after suspecting Ndebele of spreading rumours that he was stealing computers in Botswana.
Following the attack, Ndebele was ferried to hospital.
He underwent treatment for a fractured left arm and injuries to the scalp. He was subsequently discharged, but his condition deteriorated while at home. He succumbed to the injuries on September 8, 2017. — B-Metro
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Monster dad gets life sentence
A Mutare man who viciously axed his wife to death in full view of their two children aged five and seven will spend the rest of his life in jail after being convicted of murder with actual intent by High Court judge Justice Isaac Muzenda.
The incident took place on September 3, 2023 in Hobhouse, Mutare.
An irate Innocent Mujeni (40) struck his wife, Vimbai Muchinganwa (38), with an axe on the right shoulder and the head, and she died on the spot.
Her body was taken to the Victoria Chitepo Provincial Hospital, where a post-mortem report by Doctor Tinotenda Manyara stated that her death was due to severe head injuries, haemorrhagic shock and hypoxia.
Mujeni was arrested in Nyazura after he had fled from Hobhouse.
During the murder trial, in which principal law officer Malvin Musarurwa represented the State, the deceased’s daughter (now eight) said she was sleeping in the tuckshop, together with her mother and her little sister, when she was awakened by loud screams. It was her mother who was screaming, calling out her name for help.
A solar light in the room was on.
She said Mujeni was standing holding an axe, which he used to strike her late mother on the shoulder before she collapsed.
The minor said the victim called out for assistance and when she stood up to help her, the accused threatened to beat her up with a cable.
Out of fear, she went back to sleep and woke up later with the intention of visiting the bathroom. She tried to wake up her mother but she did not respond.
However, Mujeni woke up and instructed her to urinate in the bucket that was in the tuckshop. She complied and went back to sleep.
Around 6am, Mujeni gave the siblings a two-kilogramme packet of sugar, some cereal and a loaf of bread, and told them to go to their grandmother’s place.
Mujeni lied to the children that their mother had gone to town.
The minors proceeded to their granny Jesca Muchinganwa’s place and informed her that their parents had fought the previous night. Around 9am, the elder girl went back to the tuckshop to collect her shoes but found it locked.
One of their neighbours, Esther Makota, instructed her to tell her grandmother to come to the tuckshop. She, however, only came later in the afternoon. In her testimony, Makota said she had heard the little girl screaming from their tuckshop on the night of the murder but Mujeni ordered her to keep quiet.
Makota said she saw Mujeni opening the tuckshop and selling groceries the following morning. She did not see the deceased, who ordinarily used to be the tuckshop attendant.
Around 8am, she said, Mujeni closed the tuckshop and locked it.
Mujeni gave her US$9 to buy bread for him before telling her that he was going to town to buy a pick and a shovel, which he intended to use to mould bricks at his rural home.
When Makota asked for Muchinganwa’s whereabouts, Mujeni told her that she had gone to town to buy goods for her tuckshop. Around noon, Makota informed the police that Muchinganwa was missing following a fight with her husband the previous night.
Around 3pm, the deceased’s mother arrived and used a small axe to break the door to gain entry into the tuckshop. Makota said they saw Muchinganwa’s body covered with a blanket in a storeroom in the tuckshop.
The deceased had cuts on the right shoulder and head. — Manica Post
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Cowardly husband leaves wife behind during a robbery
A man from Pumula North suburb in Bulawayo fled, leaving his wife at the mercy of gangsters who stabbed her in the thigh and allegedly robbed her of US$90 and a cellphone.
The incident was confirmed by Bulawayo deputy police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Nomalanga Msebele.
“We would like to discourage members of the public from walking along footpaths because they will be exposing themselves to criminals. We would also like to urge those who knock off from work late at night to hire a taxi rather than mushikashika,” she said.
She appealed for information that could lead to the arrest of the four robbers.
“We would like to appeal for information that could lead to the arrest of the four suspects. Anyone with information can contact any nearest police station,” she said.
A family member of the couple said Abraham Tshuma’s wife Tariro Mngwabi knocked off from work around 11pm before she and her husband boarded a commuter omnibus to their home in Pumula North suburb.
They disembarked at the Intemba bus stop and walked along a footpath to their home. Four robbers who were armed with a machete and a knife then pounced on them. The family member said, upon seeing the robbers, Tshuma summoned his athletics skills and bolted from the scene.
“Three robbers chased after Tshuma while one of them remained guarding the woman. He took out his Okapi knife and threatened to stab her if she screamed,” said the relative.
The woman plucked up courage and snatched the knife from the robber’s tight grip before stabbing him.
“He screamed, prompting his accomplices to return, and they found the woman pinning him down. They attacked her with a machete on the thigh before robbing her of US$90 and a cellphone. After that, they ran away,” said the relative.
Tshuma later returned to the scene in the company of his neighbours, and his wife was rushed to Mpilo Central Hospital. — Bulawayo Bureau
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Man kills self for being ‘a failure’
A 36-year-old man from Pumula South suburb in Bulawayo hanged himself on a tree in a bushy area near a secondary school.
Claudious Murambiwa had informed his friends that he was a failure in life and wanted to kill himself.
Circumstances are that on June 29, 2024, the now deceased met up with his friends at the gate of his place of residence and told them that he wanted to kill himself because he had failed in life.
His friends took his threat lightly as he was drunk.
The next day, his friends were informed that he had committed suicide after passers-by found him hanging in a bush.
Bulawayo provincial police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube confirmed the incident.
“The police received a case of a man who committed suicide and we appeal to the public to help people facing mental health challenges and to take them seriously when they are threatening to commit suicide,” said Inspector Ncube. — B-Metro
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